Girdle construction



Oct. 25, 1955 R. TRUDEAU 2,721,325

GIRDLE CONSTRUCTION Filed Sept. 9, 1953 Mafia/we:

United States Patent GIRDLE CONSTRUCTION Richard Trudeau, Laval, sur-le-lac, Quebec, Canada, as-

signor to C.' J. Grenier Limited, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, a corporation of Canada Application September 9, 41953., Serial No. 379,171 4 Claims. (AC1. 2.743,)

Introduction The present invention relates to foundation garments.

Present day foundation garments, and particularly girdles, are manufactured with the idea of being as light and as flexible as possible while maintaining the necessary resilient tension for figure control. A smooth form iitting outline is the aim of all these garments and they are therefore made entirely of resilient material or have substantial inserts of resilient material with a resilient waist band portion fitting snugly about the waist of the wearer.

However, when the wearer of the usual type of girdle, particularly in the case of the high-waisted variety bends forward, the tendency of the upper front edge is to roll over and after some use, this edge will become stretched and remain in rolled over condition making an unsightly bulge and further detracting from the gure controlling efliciency of the waistband of the girdle.

Attempts have been made to overcome this problem by providing boxes or stiffening inserts in the front portion of garments of this nature but these are not too satisfactory in that they tend to press into the abdomen when the wearer stoops or bends.

Applicants development The present invention recognizes this problem and aims to provide a satisfactory solution by furnishing a girdle construction wherein a main body portion, having at least sections of resilient material, is provided with a waist band portion which surrounds the upper marginal edge of the body portion and is constructed to prevent wrinkling or rolling.

The waist band consists of an elongated strip of resilient material which is shaped so as to have tapering end portions and is secured to the body portion so that the tapering ends overlap centrally at the front portion of the waist band and terminate adjacent the side portions of the garment body portion.

With this construction, the overlapping double-ply front portions of the waist band, due to their taper and their attachment to the upper marginal edge of the body portion of the garment will not curl or stretch in the usual manner but will return to their original resiliently stressed smooth condition when the wearer returns to erect position.

Detailed description Having thus generally described the nature of the invention, particular reference will be made to the accompanying drawings showing by way of illustration a preferred construction of a girdle in accordance with the present invention, and in which:

Figure 1 is a view in front elevation of a blank strip adapted to form the waist band portion of the girdle.

Figure 2 is a girdle embodying a waist band in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view of the front portion ICC 2 of the waist band of the garment shown in Figure 2 along the line Ztl-3.

Figure 4 is a diagrammatic view in plan pf the girdle construction shown in Figure 2 to show double ply lfront portion and particularly the position of the tapering ends of the elongated waistband portion.

Figure 5i is a diagrammatic view showing a girdle construction having awaist band according to the present invention as it would appear when worn. A

Wit-h particular reference to the drawings, Figure l shows a front elevation or flat pattern of a strip of resilient material from which the waist band portion of the girdle is formed according to the invention prior to its attachment to the body portion of the girdle.

Figure 2 shows a complete girdle construction in accordance with the invention wherein a main body portion 10 having a nonresilient front panel 12 and resilient side and rear portions 14 is connected to an elongated waist band portion 16 having tapering ends 18, 20.

As shown in Figure 3, the waist band portion 16 is secured to the upper marginal edges of the body portions 12 and 14 all along one marginal edge of the waist band strip. As the marginal edge which is seamed to the body portion, and indicated at 21, is of a substantially curvate form, when the waist band is so attached with the bottom marginal edges of the tapering end portions in alignment with each other and the top marginal edge of the garment body portion, it will conform to the general contour of the body of the garment and so iit snugly about the waist. The resilient waist band is thus of single ply thickness at the rear portion and double ply thickness at the front portion due to the overlap of the tapering end portions.

In the preferred construction as shown the resilient waistband 16 is of sutticient length so that the overlapping tapered ends 18, 2t) are disposed adjacent the side portions of the garment body.

As will be appreciated, with reference to the accompanying drawings, particularly Figure 5, when the wearer of the garment bends over, the tapering end portions 18, 20 of the waist band 16 will flex to accommodate the movements of the wearer, and due to their taper or overlapped diagonal arrangement they will return to their original smooth uncurled condition when the wearer again assumes an erect position.

It will be appreciated, of course, that the waist band portion 16 is cut as is shown in Figure 1 so that the resilient or stretching characteristic of the material is directed in a diagonal fashion across the front of the garment at the overlap so as to aid in the return of this portion after llexing.

The present arrangement eliminates the unsightly roll over and bulge common to most prior art high-waisted girdles after such garments have been in use for some time.

I claim:

1. A girdle construction comprising, a continuous wide band of combined elastic and non-elastic material constituting a main garment body portion having a substantially non-resilient front panel, resilient side and back panels, and a waist band portion of resilient material secured to the upper marginal edge of said body portion, said waist band portion having a single-ply back portion and tapering end portions overlapping diagonally at the front of the garment to form a double ply front portion.

2. A girdle construction as claimed in claim l wherein the waist band comprises an elongated strip of resilient material shaped to have one straight longitudinal marginal edge with the other longitudinal marginal edge tapering adjacent each end towards said first longitudinal edge, said resilient strip being secured to the marginal portions of said main body portion along its entire length with 3 the terminal ends being disposed against the side portions of said garment.

3. A girdle construction comprising a wide band of combined elastic and non-elastic material constituting a main Vgarment body having a front panel and back and 4. A girdle construction as claimed in claim 3, wherein 15 one longitudinal marginal edge of said elongated waist band is`st`raight and the other longitudinal edge is substantially curvate and secured along its entire length to said body portion.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,391,563 Monin Sept. 20, 1921 1,581,962 Kispert Apr. 20, 1926 2,285,619 1 Scott June 9, 1942 2,315,561 Strait Apr. 6, 1943 2,629,097 Hurwitz Feb. 24, 1953 FOREIGN PATENTS 486,500 Canada Sept. 16, 1952 rua. n, 

